The Redeemers
by Doccubus
Summary: 6 moths after the end of season 7, Buffy's teaching at the Slayer's academy and the scoobies are all there by her side. Everything is at peace until people from the past return
1. 6 Months

**AN: **Hey everyone, I'm moving around writing for different fandoms, so there's alot of different types of fics all over the place, including my lifejournal (buttercup12490) so far it just has this one story here, but I'll build it up. Anyways, this is my first Buffy the Vampire Slayer Fanfic, not by any means my first fanfic in general so you flames are as welcome as positive feedback (though I'm hoping for more of the latter) I really hope you guys like what I've done here

**Warnings and Disclaimers**: I tend to write pretty intense stuff so if you can't handle the lady lovin' or just regular lovin' I suggest you turn away. On that note, I'm just borrowing these awesome characters, they belong completely to Joss Whedon.

**The Redeemers**

Sunny Dale Academy for Slayers

Things had changed a lot in the past 6 months. After Sunnydale was sucked into hell and hellmouth was destroyed, Buffy and the scoobies literally had no place to go. Willow's family had long ago left her because of their homophobic ideas, and Xander's family still weren't speaking to him after his failed wedding with Anya. Buffy and Dawn could rarely contribute since their only living family member was their father, and no one knew where the hell he was.

There was only one place they could go and that was with Giles to England. That's where they set the Sunny Dale Academy for Slayers (the Sunny Dale only added to commemorate the fallen city) or SDAFS. With thousands of new slayers activated all around the world and no watchers to watch them, Giles opened a watchers academy to train non-slayers for the job.

With the help of Willow's magic and the coven who had helped her control it, all the new slayers were brought to the academy like a boarding school and all the watchers went to Giles' academy. Willow loved the whole idea, claiming that she was the Dumbeldore to the slayers' Hogwarts.

Faith had called her a dork and Xander laughed. Buffy and Giles were clueless as usual with pop culture references, and as a response Dawn bought the Harry Potter series and forced them to read it.

Everything was completely different for the Scoobsters, which means they were much more relaxing.

For one Faith, Robin, and Andrew tagged along on the trip to England, Faith because she didn't want to go back to jail, Robin because the academy needed a principal and he lost his old job by default, and Andrew because he had no where else to go.

In the long run the decision was beneficial. Robin was excellent at running a school and all that estrogen mixed in with demonic super strength was actually kept tame. Even his short and extremely sexual relationship with Faith didn't distract the man from doing his job. All Buffy had to do was train the girls once in the morning before they went to their regular high school classes then at night at the local cementary.

While Buffy did that, Faith took care of the patrolling duties. At one point Buffy even took a three-month vacation traveling the world and Faith gracefully filled in while Kennedy and Rona did the patrolling.

Kennedy and Willow did date for two more months before Kennedy wanted to explore more possibilities. Unlike Willow she was the type of girl that liked to experiment and live it up before settling down. Willow wasn't too heartbroken, she didn't love her but she was extremely turned on by her. She couldn't resist a woman in power. That was one of the things she loved about Tara. Tara had so much power, and even when Willow surpassed her she was still more powerful because at least she could control her own power.

Xander was still grieving over Anya and surprisingly found himself befriending Andrew who seemed to have made a bond with Anya before she died. Xander loved hearing Andrew telling the stories about him and Anya getting supplies at the hospital and them having a wheelchair fight. It was a side of Anya that she didn't show much and before Xander's relationship with her turned sour they had those moments all the time.

He thought after the breakup she lost that flair, but she hadn't. In fact she became even more wonderful. She became more compassionate and caring, so much that when at first she fled from the apocalypse and returned afterwards she then fought bravely in the face of certain doom and sacrificed her life for someone else. Someone who at first was considered evil.

But that's the thing with Buffy's close net group of people, they are all redeemers. Angel killed hundreds before getting his soul, Faith was a cold-blooded murderer, Willow killed two people and almost destroyed the world, Andrew killed Johnathan and activated an ancient hell-seal, Spike killed mercilessly as William the Bloody including two slayers, and Buffy herself tied him, Willow, and Dawn before letting a demon loose on them.

They were all redeemers, all making up for something.

In a way Xander felt a little guilty for Anya's death. Maybe it was his subconscious saying he needed to be a redeemer as well to fit into Buffy's gang, or maybe it was that underlying guilt that said maybe if he would have paired with Anya instead of pairing her with Andrew, she would still be alive.

Then of course Dawn or Andrew or both would have been killed. It was a conflicting emotion that Xander just couldn't shake and that added to the fact that he could no longer work construction with only one eye, he was just plainly a mess.

Andrew was a solace. He had saved a lot of the money he stole from the banks in his trio days and he opened a bar/clubs exclusively for the girls of the slayers academy and the students of the watchers academy. It was like the new Bronze and Andrew didn't hesitate to make Xander his partner in the business.

When naming the place they reached an agreement almost instantly. They called it Anya's.

Though Xander didn't want to admit it, he, Giles, and Dawn were the true innocents, the ones that turly had nothing to atone for. But they were prepared for their turn. They just hoped that when it did come, they would be able to be saved without being killed.

Dawn was the one least worried about it. She knew Buffy would never allow that to happen. That even if Dawn were converted into a vampire, Buffy would have Willow curse her with Angel's curse even if it meant an eternity of a loveless life.

With that in mind, Dawn lived at ease. She didn't insist so much on going patrolling or being involved with Buffy's activities because she knew that Buffy had real backup now. So she focused her attention on her new high school and her night classes at the watcher's academy. Evidently Giles saw the watcher in her and started training her personally.

And to think all of these changes happened in only six months. Buffy was still amazed at how much happier she was now that the weight of the entire world wasn't on her shoulders. She even had time to go to college with Willow, Andrew, and Faith. Yes, Faith too!

Buffy studied for psychology having got a good feel for it with her counseling job. Willow was a double major in computer technology and Wiccan studies (though that was at the coven's school rather than the university). Andrew went into medicine and graphic design, he managed to do both simply because he was a genius. And Faith was training with the police academy there.

But knowing the world of Buffy and her friends, it wasn't a surprise when trouble came a-knocking. After six months of blissful peace, Buffy was starting to get worried that nothing serious had happened! So when reports of a hellish witch-demon burning a town to the ground arrived at the academy, the scoobies gathered together ready for their next adventure.

...

A Hell Dimension

Time moves much faster in this realm. In only 6 Earth months, three centuries have passed by here, but it felt much longer when there's nothing but torture and pain.

It was on that very same day when the with-demon attacked that Spike realized that he would rather die out of existence (as what happens if you die in Hell) then take another century of torture. Having his soul only made the torture a million times worse, but he was strong. If he could fight a disabling chip, the first controlling his brain with a trigger, and his destructive love Buffy, then he could survive this.

So when they were walking him back to his cell he seized his chance. With a well-maneuvered punch he knocked his guard out. Then the race began. Demon-guards from all around lunged at him with their teeth bared and Spike ran. Hell dimensions were like labyrinths and often portals to other dimensions can open.

This was the vampire Hell dimension but from stories Angel told him he knew exactly where the portal to the demon Hell dimension was. After all if he was going to escape, he couldn't do it alone.

He ran directly to the portal making sure to get enough distance so that he could knock out another guard and steal his clothes. It was thick black pants, a skin tight black shirt, and a thick vest made out of metal, along with a metal mask.

So when the guards caught up he simply blended in with them pretending to be looking for the rogue vampire.

The leader of the group barked out orders in his language which luckily Spike understood. He was paired with a female guard, which couldn't have been more perfect. The moment they were alone, he pinched the spot between the shoulder and neck that made people nap and the demon-guard was down.

Spike quickly undressed her and tucked the uniform under his arm. He ran at full speed to the portal and jumped in before anyone could even see him. He wasn't sure if she was here at first, he thought that she might've died in the battle too but he wasn't sure.

Then when his torturer showed him an image of everyone moving forward with their lives and saying that they were better off without him, he tried to shake off his hurt by simply noticing that she wasn't there.

She had to be here.

In his disguise, which luckily was the same as the demon-guards in this dimension, Spike walked in between the cells, glancing into every single one. Tortured demons lived in each one, some of them looking strong like he had been and others curled up into the fetal position completely broken.

Then he saw her. She was one of the broken ones, rocking herself slowly muttering intelligible things that no one could hear but herself. Spike's heart lurched, he actually cared for her and wished he had arrived sooner. Maybe he would have been able to save her from the torture she had been submitted to.

Using the keys he stole, he unlocked the cell and grabbed her arm. She didn't even fight or hesitate, she simply followed him. Though he did her mutter, "is it already another day?"

When no one was looking he tugged her into a corner. She looked bewildered and confused.

"Look at me," he said, "put the uniform on."

"W-why?" She said nervously.

Spike removed his helmet and revealed his face that had a large scar on the temple but other than that intact.

"Spike!" She cried.

"Shhh," he said, "put on the uniform and helmet Anya."

Anya's eyes flickered with a spark of hope and though her body was trembling with sheer fear, she quickly dressed and put on the helmet. Spike replaced his own helmet as Anya asked, "what are we doing Spike? How long do you think we can pose as demon-guards?"

"We're not gonna pose as demon-guards Anya," Spike said guiding her to a similar location as the vampire dimension hoping he could find another portal.

"Then what are we doing?"

Spike tugged on Anya's arm and she followed him as he responded, "we're getting the hell out of here."


	2. WitchDemon

**AN: **Hey everyone, I'm loving this story but I would love to see reviews pretty please :)

**Warnings and Disclaimers**: I tend to write pretty intense stuff so if you can't handle the lady lovin' or just regular lovin' I suggest you turn away. On that note, I'm just borrowing these awesome characters, they belong completely to Joss Whedon.

**The Redeemers**

A Small City

Buffy, Faith, Xander, Willow, Robin, and Kennedy walked into the city. Each one of them had a weapon ready to fight the alleged Witch-Demon who caused this much damaged.

Buffy led the way and Faith covered her back. Kennedy stayed behind the entire group watching all of their backs. They didn't want to bring anymore slayers until they assessed the gravity of the situation.

"If this really is a Witch-Demon, I'm not sure I'm strong enough to stop her," Willow said, "what if her magic is stronger?"

"Don't sell yourself short Will, you are a the one who saved the world," Xander said.

"I just activated them, they're the ones who saved the world," Willow said bashfully.

"No Red, I think Xand here has a point," Faith agreed, "we wouldn't have won if you hadn't activated them. There's no way me, B, and Spike would have been enough."

"Let's..." Buffy interrupted, "not talk about Spike."

Faith raised her hands, "sorry B."

"You miss him huh Buffy?" Xander said.

Buffy glanced at him then nodded. Only Xander got away with saying things like that mostly because he could see things others couldn't even with his one eye.

"That battle was intense," Robin said attempting to change the subject since the mood was heavy, "but look at our lives now. We're much happier."

"Ah Wood, always the optimistic one," Faith said sarcastically.

"I wish I would have been your Principal Faith, I would teach you a thing or two about that attitude," Robin said.

Xander suddenly whirled around and firmly said, "we DON'T make wishes!"

Robin jumped back in surprise and confusion. "Whoa relax Xander," Kennedy said.

"Xand he doesn't know," Willow said calmly.

"Know what?" Robin said.

"There are demons who grant wishes, three times we've almost been screwed over by a wish, though one of the times we don't remember," Buffy said.

"Oh yes the vampire Willow," Willow said shaking her head.

"Whoa Red, there's a vampire version of you out there?" Faith said, "now that's a fight I'd like to have!"

"She was accidentally pulled from another dimension," Xander explained as they continued walking, "Buffy and I really thought they had gotten Willow, we started crying."

"Oh so there were two of you!" Robin said his voice full of mirth, "that must have been interesting."

"She was a crazy lesbian," Willow said.

"And that has changed how Red?" Faith teased.

Willow blushed, "I'm not a CRAZY lesbian!"

"I beg to differ," Kennedy said.

Faith howled in laughter, Robin and Xander shifted uncomfortably, Willow turned so red she looked like a tomato, and Buffy wasn't at all surprised.

"It's the quiet ones you gotta look out for huh Red?" Faith taunted walking backwards to look at Willow. She liked watching her blush.

And Willow gave her what she wanted by blushing deeply.

Kennedy smirked as she put in her input, "she'd rock your world Faith."

"Why do I doubt that?" Faith teased.

Willow's eyes narrowed and though she was embarrassed she said, "I wouldn't if I were you."

"Ooo Red," Faith said, "getting ballsy on me huh?"

Buffy's laughter ended their banter, "guys, as entertaining as this is, let's try to focus."

"Y-yeah focus," Xander said gulping.

Robin chuckled and shrugged.

"Faith started it!" Willow accused.

"Did not!"

"No actually, I started it," Kennedy said.

It was in the corner of her eye that Faith saw the flash in the alleyway between two burning building. On instinct she reached out towards Willow and grabbed.

Her hand closed firmly around a metal tipped arrow that was inches away from Willow's face.

"Whoa!" Kennedy cried.

"There's the shooter!" Robin exclaimed.

"She's running! Come on!" Xander cried.

Buffy ran after her but not before calling back to Faith, "nice catch."

Faith simply moved the arrow away from Willow surprised that she even caught it. Willow was still a bit stunned when she said, "thanks for saving me."

"Hey no problem, let's go," Faith said.

"There she is!" Kennedy cried shooting an arrow from her crossbow at her. The demon skillfully dodged the arrow and pushed Xander away as he swung at her with a long sword.

Robin attacked at full force extracting his metal fists as he swung at her. He got a good punch in that made her stagger back. She retaliated with a kick that Robin barely dodged.

Faith and Kennedy ran towards her and she turned her body with another kick and hit Robin in the face.

Buffy, however, got there first tackling her from behind. She turned the demon around and her brow furrowed, "hey this is a vampire!"

The vamp quickly punched Buffy in the jaw, knocking her off of her.

Faith and Kennedy lunged forward with stakes in their hands. Willow's eyes widened as she saw the vampire, "she looks familiar, I know her!"

The vampire raised her hand and released a magical burst that sent Faith and Kennedy flying back. Then raising her hand Xander's sword connected with a yellow barrier instead of her hand. She moved her other hand and shot out a burst of purple electricity towards Robin. Buffy yanked him out of the way barely on time.

"Oh my God!" Willow cried.

"Ah I see you recognize me," the vamp said with a sadistic smirk.

Willow let out a small growl and shot out a burst of white electricity towards her. The vamp deflected it with her arm.

"So she's not a Witch-Demon, she's a vampire-witch!" Xander cried.

"And not just any vampire-witch," the vamp said changing from the ridges to her normal face, "one you know."

"Amy!" Buffy cried.

"You sadistic bitch, you got yourself converted on purpose!" Willow cried shooting another energy blast.

Amy caught the blast with an evil grin and shot it towards Faith, "that's for saving her when I shot her!"

"Faith!" Buffy and Robin cried at the same time.

Kennedy's foot shot out and kicked Faith's thigh making her move to the side. It was just enough so that the blast hit her shoulder instead of fatally on her chest.

Willow let out a distressed yelp as Faith fell to the floor howling in pain.

Amy smirked, "Willow, are you hurting your friends again?"

Willow let out a feral growl and her hair turned white. White electricity crackled around her and her pupils turned black.

"Shit! Move move!" Kennedy said tackling Xander away.

Buffy pushed Robin away hard then crouched down to the floor protecting Faith from the stray blasts with her body.

Amy stepped back looking terrified as Willow lifted her hand and shot out an electric blast so strong that it completely destroyed Amy's shield. She shrieked in pain as the electricity covered her entire body.

"Willow! Stop!" Xander cried.

With a growl Buffy grabbed Faith's stake and flung it at Amy. The stake hit her in the chest but missed her heart. Faith, who had just recovered, ran to Willow and shook her out of the spell as Kennedy threw her stake at Buffy. Buffy caught it swiftly and ran towards Amy who was staggering on her feet sobbing in pain.

Willow's knees went weak as her hair went back to red and her eyes went back to green. Faith caught her firmly, "whoa Red, easy there."

"Faith," Willow said weakly looking at the nasty burn mark on Faith's arm, "I hurt you."

"No you didn't Amy did," Faith assured.

Buffy raised her arm and lunged forward the stake Amy one and for all but a burst of energy pushed her back and enveloped Amy. Amy looked confused and terrified, "what's happening!"

Buffy turned and saw that Faith was supporting a weakened Willow, "it's not me."

"Then what the hell is going on!" Buffy cried.

"Buff look! Amy's disappearing!" Xander said.

Everyone watched in horror and confusion as Amy disappeared yelling out, "someone help me!"

"What the fuck?" Kennedy breathed standing up.

"No one put a spell or curse or anything?" Robin asked.

"No," Willow answered.

"We need to see Giles," Buffy said, "something bad is afoot."

...

A Hell Dimension

"No, no! Please no!"

"Anya," Spike said shaking the woman, "wake up!"

"No!" Anya cried waking up while punching Spike in the cheek.

"Ow!"

"Sorry," Anya said, "I still have nightmares about the torture."

"I know, I do too sometimes," Spike said, "this is a great hiding place. We've been hiding in the vents of every dimension we've gone to for 36 years now."

"I'm surprised we haven't been caught in all this time," Anya said with a sigh.

"Doesn't mean we haven't had some good rumbles," Spike said.

Anya looked at the scar on her arm, her calf, and she knew she had one on the side of her neck. Spike being a vampire recovered mostly, but even he had permanent scars. A lot of them were on his chest and stomach where the demon-guards had tried to stake him. They all looked like little scratches while Anya's looked like long disgusting gashes. The only gash Spike had was the long gash on his temple.

"Do you think they heard me waking up from the dream?" Anya said worriedly.

Spike looked out the vent holes and saw the demon-guards searching each other, looking for the fugitives in disguise.

"Damn, we need to leave this dimension now," Spike said.

"But this is the human Hell dimension, the last Hell dimension, we don't know where the portal will lead us," Anya said.

"If we stay here they will catch us," Spike said, "we need to sodding leave."

"What if it takes us back to the beginning like a circle?" Anya said.

"Then we'll go through it again and try to find other portals," Spike said, "they're coming, we have to go!"

Anya grabbed her things and waiting for Spike's cue to start running. "And if it takes us out of the Hell dimension and into something worse?"

Spike sighed, "that's the thing with you Anya you were always scared to take a risk."

"I did at the end, that's how I ended up here," Anya said.

"I know, so what's the worse that could happen? More torture? Being killed out of existence? That's better than being here," Spike said. "We haven't been fighting for 36 years to just give up."

Anya took a deep breath and said, "let's go."

Spike nodded and prepared to jump out of the vent. "Just jump out after me and run. Run and don't look back. Run directly to the portal and jump in no hesitation."

"Right, they will shoot at us so any hesitation means the end," Anya said.

"Ready? One, two...THREE!"

Spike jumped out first and Anya followed quickly behind. They ran as the demon-guards cried, "there they are!"

Suddenly demon-guards were running out from everywhere. Spike punched one away and tugged Anya away from another who jumped at her. Arrows started flying at them so they started running in zigzag, unpredictable lines.  
>They were passing the jail cells where the tortured evil humans started yelling at them.<p>

Warren reached out and almost grabbed Spike yelling out, "take me with you! Don't leave me here!"

"Fuck you asshole!" Anya said swatting his hand away.

"You'll never make it!" Wilkins yelled from another cell. The mayor hadn't gone quite as deliriously crazy as Warren.

"Yes we will snake-boy," Spike growled, "don't listen to them Anya."

"I'm not supposed to be here!" Ben screeched as they passed him, "it's her fault!"

His body changed into Glory and she yelled, "get me out of here!"

"Stop them!" A demon-guard shouted.

Two guards jumped in front of them, Spike ducked under a flying arm and the other grabbed Anya. Spike punched his guard so hard he turned around and when that happened he grabbed his neck and snapped it.

The demon-guard who had been holding Anya released her and tackled Spike down.

"Spike!" Anya cried.

"Go! Into the portal!" Spike yelled struggling to get free.

"But Spike..."

"Go!"

Anya moved to run but she knew she couldn't make it without Spike and he was doomed if she left. Summoning up her courage she grabbed a pipe and hit the demon-guard on the head. Spike wiggled free as another guard punched Anya hard. He caught the pipe as she dropped it and slammed it against the demon-guard's chest.

Then without hesitation he grabbed Anya's hand and ran to the portal. They jumped in narrowly missing the demon-guard's hand that tried to grab them.

They were falling in an abyss. Surrounding them was a stream of purple and red and at the bottom of the pit was pure darkness.

"We're falling into nothingness!" Anya cried.

"What?" Spike yelled.

"I heard about this from Dehafran! There's a portal that leads to nothingness where you cease to exist and everyone who ever knew you will forget you!" Anya cried.

"No!" Spike yelled.

"It was nice knowing ya Spike," Anya said as tears spilled from her eyes.

Spike grabbed her hand, "we had a good run girl."

As they fell a door from the top of the abyss opened.

"What the hell is that?" Anya said.

A female voice yelled out, "take my hand!"

Two different hands stuck out from the door. "Grab on!" Spike yelled at Anya.

"What if it's a trap?" Anya cried.

"It's better than this," Spike said. Spike grabbed one arm and Anya the other. They let go of each other's hands to grab on to the helpful hands of two women. It took quite a struggle but slowly Spike and Anya were pulled up.

The door shut behind them and they looked at their surroundings. They were on some sort of cloud and the entire area was white, like if they were inside a cloud. Spike and Anya looked at their saviors and gasped.

"Tara!" Anya cried.

"Mrs. Summers!" Spike cried.

"Call me Joyce please," Buffy's mother said with a brilliant smile. She was simply glowing wearing that white dress. Tara looked just as peaceful and happy.

"Tara where are we?" Anya asked pulling the woman into a hug, "Willow has missed you ya know."

"I know, and she refuses to move on," Tara said, "she has to let me go."

"And Buffy is taking the mother role so seriously she's missing out on her own youth," Joyce said, "we've been watching you."

"I knew you were," Spike said.

"You two have made valiant sacrifices," Joyce said.

"And the gods have agreed to grant you amnesty," Tara said.

"Meaning we can spend eternity in Heaven instead of Hell?" Anya asked hopefully.

"Not quite," Tara said.

"You still have demons in your core," Joyce said, "but there's another option."

"It's a form of punishment for your past sins which you obviously regret," Tara said, "but also your form of redemption."

"And what is that?" Spike asked.

"You will lose the demon at your core and it will be replaced with the power of light," Joyce said.

"Meaning you will be guardian angels," Tara said, "you will have magic, strength, and speed to keep the world safe. You will spend the rest of eternity on Earth as their guardians."

"We will go back to life?" Anya said excitedly. Everyone knew how much Anya loved life and feared death, this must have been a dream come true for her.

"That's where the punishment comes in," Joyce said. "You are completely immortal and indestructible until everyone you've ever loved and cared about passes away. Once they are all gone you can be killed."

"That's why you two didn't take the job for yourselves huh?" Spike asked.

"I would love nothing more than to be with my Willow but I can't watch her age and die and Joyce can't see her daughters do that too," Tara said.

"Besides the power cannot be kept by a human, it has to be someone with a demon core," Joyce said.

"So I will no longer be an ex-vengeance demon?"

"And I won't be a vampire?"

"No," Joyce said.

"I don't see a negative side to this, I've already seen a lot of people age and die in my lifetime," Spike said, "I'll just be happy to be with Buffy again."

Joyce smiled, "she meant what she said ya know."

"What?"

"That she loves you."

Spike shook his head, "no, she said it because she knew I was gonna die."

Joyce grabbed his hand and looked firmly into his eyes, "no. She didn't."

Spike blinked in surprise. His heart swelled and he couldn't stop the smile that crept onto his face.

"Let's do it," Anya said, "I need to be with Xander again and this time I don't even care if he marries me or not, I just wanna be with him."

"The moment you came in here you were granted your powers," Tara said, "now the task is getting you back to Earth."

"I figure that's the hard part," Spike said.

"Anyone who died by natural causes can never get out of here, but you two died fighting at the Hellmouth, which is mystical," Joyce said.

"So we can get out of here!" Anya said happily.

"Not without risk," Joyce said, "we have to get someone powerful enough to open a portal. This means that the person opening the portal will gain extremely dangerous magic."

"It also means that someone who is soulless has to do it," Tara said.

"So that person will kill people," Anya said.

"I can see the downside," Spike said, "is it the only way?"

"Yes, that makes your job even more important," Joyce said.

"You must jump out of the portal fast and destroy the monster before she kills anyone," Tara said.

"If she kills a single person the portal will never be closed," Joyce said.

"You say 'she,'" Spike said, "do already know who it will be?"

"We will summon her now," Joyce said.

"You will give her the spell and convince her to open the portal," Tara said.

"Easy, she's evil, more power will not be something she'll deny," Anya said.

"True, it will be very easy to do so," Spike said.

"She's here," Tara said.

Amy appeared in the room, but it was only a holographic sort of image, in the real world she was in an abandoned dark factory the location of the portal opening.

"Where am I?" Amy cried bringing out her vampiric ridges.

"She converted," Spike said in surprise.

"A vampire-witch," Anya said, "not usual. So what do we tell her?"

"We will send her the spell book she needs," Joyce said.

"You just convince her and tell her the book is in the drawer," Tara said.

"She'll recognize my voice," Anya said, "go for it Spike."

Spike walked to the vision and started speaking to her, "Amy..."

Amy nearly jumped out of her skin looking around the dark factory and seeing nothing, "who's there?"

"I am a demon from the other side," Spike said.

"What?" Amy said in confusion.

"I've been observing you," Spike said, "you seem to have a problem with Willow Rosenburg."

Amy scowled, "I hate her."

"She doesn't even work half as hard as you and she's more powerful than you by miles," Spike said.

Amy growled in anger.

"Don't you wish you were more powerful than her?" Spike said.

"It's the only thing I want," Amy seethed.

"I even tried to control Willow by making her evil but she beat me," Spike said.

Amy's eyes widened, "that was you?"

"Yes," Spike said smirking as he realized Amy was completely under his spell.

Amy knelt down on one knee, "then I live to serve you."

Spike glanced back at Anya who smiled victoriously. He looked back at Amy and said, "there's a way to bring me out of where I am. See I was cursed and locked here. I tried to use Willow's power to open the portal but I failed."

"And you want me to open it?" Amy said, "if Willow couldn't do it..."

"If you couldn't do it I wouldn't have summoned you," Spike said.

Amy smirked, "and if I do so you will kill Willow?"

"Better, by opening the portal you will gain an insurmable amount of power, you will be powerful enough to kill her yourself," Spike said.

Amy smirked, "what do I need to do?"


	3. Preparations

**AN: **Hi everyone, I'm hoping for more reviews because it encourages me :) Thanks for reading and thanks to those who reviewed

**Warnings and Disclaimers**: I do not own BtVS or any of its characters

Sunny Dale Academy For Slayers

"One!" Buffy yelled.

The slayers kicked into the air yelling, "hah!"

"Two!"

A punch, "hah!"

"Three!"

A evasion roll on the floor, "hah!"

"Buffy," Robin said interrupting the lesson.

Buffy turned to him and saw a serious expression on his face. By his side was Xander looking equally as serious.

Buffy turned to the slayers, "Kennedy, Rona take them for a run."

"Group A with me," Kennedy said, "to the track."

"Group B up the hill!" Rona called out.

Buffy walked to Robin and Xander, "what's going on?"

"Amy was spotted walking into a magic shop," Robin said.

"She walked out with a bunch of stuff and didn't kill the owner," Xander said.

"She didn't? Now that's weird," Buffy said.

"No it means she has something bigger in mind," Xander said.

"I have a few slayers trying to track her," Robin said, "Faith, Willow, and Andrew went to the magic shop to try to maybe get some sort of receipt."

"Good, if we have that Giles can figure out what she's up to," Buffy said.

"Dawn and I were up all night with him trying to figure out what the hell made her vanish last time," Xander said.

"Should I patrol and keep an eye out for her?" Buffy said.

"I'll go with you, she's dangerous," Robin said.

"I'll go to Giles and Dawn I can help figure things out," Xander said.

...

Magickalus Store

Andrew, Willow, and Faith walked into the store. Faith still had a gauze around her shoulder burn and scratched at it like crazy.

"Faith stop scratching it!" Willow said for the millionth time.

"Well damn Red it itches!" Faith cried, "let me take this damn thing off. I'm a slayer I bet it's already healed."

"Andrew, Mr. Med Student," Willow said, "tell her she can't take it off yet."

Andrew sighed in frustration, they had been arguing and teasing the entire 20 minute walk to the store. He lifted the gauze slightly and looked at wound. "It's healing fast but if you take it off now you risk infection."

Faith groaned and Willow said, "hah! See I told you!"

Andrew gave her a smile, "I should be able to take it off tomorrow."

"It's been a week, it never takes me that long to heal," Faith said.

"Willow's magic is pretty powerful," Andrew said.

Willow immediately looked remorseful, "I'm so sorry..."

"Red, stop apologizing it's cool," Faith said, "let's talk to this guy."

They walked to the owner who was busy looking over some papers. Andrew walked up to him first, "hi."

The man looked up, "welcome to Magickalus, how may I help you?"

"Yes, a woman with black hair and ratty features was here last night and she bought a bunch of things," Andrew said.

"Her name is Amy," Willow said.

"We were wondering if you could give maybe a copy of her receipt or tell what she bought," Andrew said.

The man looked confused for a moment before nodding in understanding, "ah yes, she bought quite a few items, but I don't give people's receipts out. Privacy you know."

"Look dude, she's an evil murderer you need to give us that receipt," Faith said.

The man looked defensive and Andrew quickly added, "uh she's an escaped convict if you don't give us what we need she can kill a lot of people."

The man looked pensive, "I don't know."

"I can beat it out of him," Faith whispered stepping forward.

Willow put her hand on Faith's belly to stop her. They both looked at each other in surprise as a they felt a jolt of electricity. Willow shook her head as she sighed deeply and stepped forward. She moved Andrew aside and slapped down a 50 dollar bill on the counter.

"Give me the damn receipt," Willow said in a dangerously low tone.

Faith blinked in surprise and Andrew flinched slightly. The spaztic boy had just come to terms with his sexuality but everytime a woman spoke like that his reacted that way. Buffy did it a lot during her sarcastic banter with vampires before she killed them. She had never seen Willow do it before though.

When the man still hesitated Faith said, "you either take the money or a fist to the mouth, make a damn choice."

The man jumped and grabbed the bill. Andrew giggled and Willow smiled at her, "thanks for breaking my poker face Faith."

"That's your poker face?" Faith said, "not bad Red, not bad."

"I'm working on it," Willow said blushing.

"You had me fooled," Andrew said.

"That's cause you're a chicken shit," Faith said.

"Hey!" Andrew cried.

Willow laughed aloud, "she's right though."

"Here's the receipt," the man said giving her the paper, "n-now please leave."

"And I'm a chicken shit," Andrew muttered.

"Let's hit the road Red," Faith said.

"Thanks," Willow said to him walking towards the door and looking at the receipt.

"Hmm there are some very deadly combinations here," Willow said, "but I don't know what the end result of all of this would be."

"Lemme see," Andrew said taking the paper.

"I say that's enough, do a locator spell and we'll just kill her," Faith said.

"We can't just go in blind," Willow said, "firstly Amy probably put up a protective barrier, secondly we don't even know what we're against!"

"Nothing here that can summon any demons," Andrew said, "but there are a few things here that are said to open portals."

"Oh don't tell me she's gonna try to pull another stunt like Glory!" Willow cried.

"Don't that mean Dawn would be in trouble?" Faith asked.

"We need to get to Giles fast," Willow said, "grab onto my arm."

Andrew grabbed one arm and Faith the other. With a surge of power Willow transported them all.

...

Giles' Watcher's Academy

Xander nearly jumped out of his chair when Willow, Andrew, and Faith appeared in the library. Giles merely looked up from his book and Dawn laughed at him.

"What the hell don't scare a man with one eye!" Xander crowed.

Dawn laughed even harder.

"What's going on did you get the receipt?" Giles said.

"Here," Andrew said, "there's a bunch of things here that are used to open portals."

"And a lot of ingredients that are very volatile," Willow said.

"I figured if she was trying to open a portal she might use Dawn, you guys told me about that one Hell God," Faith said.

"Well I'm not the key anymore," Dawn said, "but thanks for caring."

Faith scoffed and said in a tone that was clearly fake, "I don't care! I'm just...well...Buffy would...her performance would be affected and well...I need...uh...I don't wanna train a bunch of little girls!"

"Uh huh right," Xander said disbelievingly.

"Oh how sweet," Andrew said.

"Sweet! I'm not sweet pipsqueak!" Faith growled.

Willow touched her arm and she immediately calmed down. Faith didn't even know how Willow did that, she didn't feel any magic at all. "Don't worry," Willow said in a teasing tone, "I won't tell Buffy you actually care about her."

"But I..."

"Ladies," Giles said clearing his throat, the tension between them was starting to fog up his glasses. "Let's just focus on the task at hand."

"Ooo here!" Dawn cried, "all the ingredients of the list are here!"

Giles took the book from her and read it aloud, "with the mixture of these ingredients a portal to a Hell dimension will open and the unlocker will gain an incredible amount of power that cannot be away or destroyed. If the unlocker should kill a single person the hell portal will open completely and any creature from the deepest parts of Hell can emerge."

"Holy shit!" Xander cried.

"And how do we stop that?" Andrew said.

"Break the spell," Giles said standing up.

"I'll call Buffy and Robin," Dawn said running to the phone.

Faith touched Willow's shoulder and said, "time for that locator spell now Red?"

Somewhere between a Hell Dimension and a Heaven Dimension

"It's almost time," Spike said.

"I can't believe it," Anya said, "after 4 and half centuries we're getting a second chance at life."

"Granted we've spent a whole century running and hiding," Spike said.

"I know it'll be hard to watch everyone age and die but at least when it's our turn we will go to heaven and not hell," Anya said.

"We'll be reunited with them at the end," Spike said.

"That's a very positive outlook, you really have reformed," Joyce said.

"Well I have a soul now," Spike said.

"Even if you didn't when we converted you to guardians you would have gotten your soul back," Joyce said.

"I think Anya got her soul back when she fell in love with Xander," Tara commented.

"You would be right," Anya said with a sad sigh, "you have no idea how much Xander changed me. At first I hated losing my demon powers, but with Xander I didn't even care anymore. Even when I was given my powers back I didn't want them. I would have taken my Xander back any day."

"Sometimes you don't realize what you have until you lose it," Tara said with a sigh.

"I totally get that," Anya agreed.

"I can't believe we're getting a second chance," Spike said.

"And because of that I want you to give a message to Buffy and Dawn," Joyce said.

"Me?" Spike said.

"Trust me Spike, she listens to you more than you know," Joyce said.

"O-okay," Spike said.

Joyce handed him a necklace, it was the one she wore around her neck everyday. "When Buffy and Dawn were younger, Dawn was about 7 and Buffy was 13, they wanted to get me something for Mother's Day. I was starting to have problems with their father and they wanted to make it better. So they went scavenger hunting for spare change and dropped bills. Eventually they saved up enough to buy me this necklace with my name on it. I have worn it every single day since they gave it to me."

"They buried you with it?" Spike asked.

"Yes, and now I want you to give it back to them," Joyce said. "I want them to keep it as a momento of me and I want you to tell them that I love them with all my heart. Tell Dawn that I am so proud of her and I want her to become the best watcher in the world, and tell Buffy that I want her to know that Dawn is old enough to take care of herself so she can stop being the mother and just be the sister."

Spike looked at the necklace and smiled, "they'll believe me when I give them this."

"It's a beautiful message," Anya said wiping a stray tear away.

"And are you willing to send Willow a message for me?" Tara asked her.

Anya nodded her head feverently, "yes! Absolutely."

Tara smiled appreciatively. "I don't have trinket to give her but I've left something for her and you can start by telling her something only she and I know and she'll know you're speaking the truth."

"Okay, what is it?"

Tara sighed and said, "tell her that I still sing I'm Under Your Spell.'"

Anya smiled slightly, "is that what you sang when Xander summoned the musical demon?"

Tara nodded and said, "tell her that when she gets home to look in her drawer, she will find that orange candle she brought to me the night she chose me over Oz and we made love for the first time."

"Wow," Anya said.

"Then I want you to tell her that I love her and I always will, and if she truly loves me then she will move on and find love with someone else," Tara said.

Anya nodded, "okay."

"She's starting the ritual," Spike said putting the necklace in the pocket of his jeans. They weren't dressed in armor anymore, but now wore dark blue jeans and form fitting white shirts.

Anya tied her hair up in a loose ponytail and crouched into a ready position, "I'm ready."


	4. Bring Me To Life

**AN: It's been quite a while hasn't it? Sorry about that everyone I just get a bit discouraged when I get no reviews, reviews give my lazy ass the push I need heh Anyways enjoy this chapter and please review especially if I take too long to update :) Again I own nothing of BtVS or AtS**

An abandoned factory

"Crexa Corbus Spiria Lexis!" Amy chanted as her body glowed with power.

"Amy!" Buffy yelled running toward her only to be stopped by a giant yellow barrier.

Faith stopped next to her and Giles, Dawn, Andrew, Xander, Robin, and Willow filed in behind making a sort of mini circle.

Amy turned around to face them. She had her vampire face and her eyes were pitch black with power. Black and purple electricity surrounded her arms and she raised them. The portal was starting to open.

"No! She's opening the portal!" Giles cried.

"Then we need to kill her before she kills anyone!" Buffy said hitting the barrier.

Faith joined Buffy in hitting the wall with all her strength. Everyone else started hitting the barrier with their weapons.

Amy laughed mirthlessly, "it won't work."

"You won't get away with this!" Willow screeched.

"Don't worry Will, you'll be the first one I kill," Amy threatened, "that's why I left the shopkeeper alive. I knew you'd come here."

"Bitch you ain't hurting Red!" Faith yelled.

"And what are you gonna do to stop me slayer?" Amy yelled. Her power intensified and she let out a yell. Suddenly the portal opened and a flash of black light enveloped Amy.

Her hair turned black and ugly veins appeared on her ridged face, much like what happened to Willow.

"Oh no," Xander said, "I don't think I can save us from this."

Suddenly the barrier went down and Amy raised her hand. Faith moved instantly as Buffy yelled, "get down!"

Amy shot out a purple electric shock out directly at Willow. Faith tackled her out of the way yelling, "watch it Red!"

"Xander get Dawn out of here!" Buffy cried.

"Andrew stay down!" Giles yelled pushing the boy to the ground.

Buffy ran at full speed towards Amy who simply lifted an arm and sent Buffy flying.

Faith stood up and shot her with the crossbow. Amy stopped the arrow in midair with her palm and turned it around so that it flew towards Faith instead. Faith jumped out of the way.

Angered, Amy shot out electric shocks in all directions. Andrew screamed covering his head as Giles covered him protectively. Faith did the same thing with Willow while Buffy did a few masterful flips to dodge them. Xander pulled Dawn out of harm's way then jumped over another shot.

"That enough!" Amy screeched lifting both of her hands.

Everyone cried out as their bodies froze solid. Amy lifted her arms and they all stood up and froze in their spots. They all grunted as they tried to move their bodies to no avail.

"Now you can't dodge me," Amy said chuckling evilly, "this is the end."

Suddenly two figures jumped out of the portal, one man and one woman. The man stood up facing the gang and they all gasped when they saw who it was.

Spike smiled at them as he lifted his hands and bright flash of white light surrounded them. They were suddenly all free. They looked at Spike in confusion as Buffy breathed out, "Spike."

She sounded like she wanted to cry and Spike wanted to hug her but he remember Anya. He turned his attention to her and when he did that so did everyone else. They hadn't seen her face yet because she was facing Amy.

"Thanks for opening the portal for us," Anya said with a wink.

"What!" Amy cried.

Anya lifted her hands and another flash of white light filled the room. Amy screamed in terror as the light enveloped her. The portal rumbled as it closed. Amy's body turned to dust and it flew into the portal and it closed with a loud grumbling howl.

Buffy and the gang were completely frozen in shock. Spike turned around to face them.

"S-Spike, how..." Buffy started.

That's when Anya turned around.

"Anya!" Xander cried. Gasps went around the room once again as Xander shot out towards Anya and pulled her into a tight hug. Anya returned the hug clinging onto him for dear life.

"I don't understand, you two died, how can you be back without being resurrected?" Giles said.

"We weren't resurrected," Spike said, "we were ascended."

"Ascended? Like the mayor?" Faith said.

"They don't look like giant snakes," Willow said.

"There's such a thing as a good ascension," Spike said.

"I thought I'd never see you again," Xander said holding onto Anya's waist as she walked to stand beside Spike.

She turned to him and placed her hand on his eye patch. "I want you to see me fully then." Her hand glowed white and Xander gasped.

"What kind of magic is that?" Willow said in shock.

"When we died we went to Hell, I was in different Hell than Anya," Spike said.

"Then how come you didn't come back all delirious like Angel?" Dawn asked.

"Because three centuries into it I escaped and busted Anya free," Spike said. "Anya and I have been running and escaping for the past century until we found a portal in a Heaven and Hell in between."

Anya moved her hand away and removed Xander's eye patch. Everyone's breath hitched not wanting to see an empty eye socket, and their jaws dropped when they saw an eye there.

Xander's hands flew to his face as he blinked rapidly. "Oh my God! How did you...oh my God!"

"There were two angels there in that other dimension," Spike said, "they took out our demon cores and replaced it with guardian cores."

"Guardians?" Dawn said.

"I've heard of them but I always thought they were a myth," Giles said.

"Nothing's a myth in our world Giles," Faith said. If there was anyone she didn't have a nickname for it was Giles and mostly because she actually felt a certain amount of respect for him.

"We used Amy to open this portal so that we could redeem ourselves by protecting the world," Anya said.

Buffy stepped forward tentatively, "s-so you're really back?"

Spike smiled at her and nodded.

Anya caressed Xander's cheek and said, "we're back." She kissed Xander's lips just as he started to cry.

"Oh my God!" Willow cried running forward and hugging Anya and Xander. Anya hugged her back despite herself. As much as she tried to dislike the witch, she just couldn't.

Buffy touched Spike's hand tentatively and gasped, "you're not cold anymore."

"I'm not a vampire anymore," Spike said, "you can call me William if you want."

Buffy shook her head as tears spilled from her eyes, "no I like Spike."

Spike couldn't hold back his tears any longer, "I've missed you Buffy. You're the one that got me through each day of torture, just you."

"God, Spike!" Buffy breathed out wrapping her arms around Spike's neck and hugging him tightly.

"Well damn look at the teary reunion," Faith said sarcastically though they all knew she was just being jealous, "can I split now?"

"And miss this wonderful moment?" Andrew said excitedly running past her and hugging Anya.

"Andrew!" Anya cried.

Andrew started crying, "I can't believe you died for me, I can't thank you enough."

"I'm actually surprised that I missed you," Anya said smiling.

Giles still looked worried but he kept his thoughts to himself. Although he never liked Spike, he was very fond of Anya and he was happy she was back.

"Let's get out of this place and celebrate," Dawn said hugging both Spike and Anya at the same time.

"If someone else is paying I'll go," Faith said with a shrug.

"I'm paying," Xander said happily.

"Cool, let's hit the road," Faith said.

"Hey let's go to Anya's!" Andrew said.

"What?" Anya said.

"Xander and I opened a bar for the slayers at the academy," Andrew said.

"We named it after you," Xander said taking Anya's hand.

"There's a slayer academy?" Spike said cocking an eyebrow.

"And a watcher one too, I'm attending that one," Dawn said.

"I actually knew that," Spike said remembering Joyce's message.

That seemed to remind Anya as well and they gave each other a small nod.

"What? What? Is something wrong?" Giles said worriedly.

"No, no sod off old man," Spike said having always disliked the watcher just as much as he did.

"We need to tell you guys something," Anya said, "but let's go to the bar and catch up. We'll tell you when we're all relaxed."


	5. Messages From Beyond

AN: it's been a while but I will be updating more often I will write more promise :)

Chapter 5: Messages from Beyond

Anya's Slayer Bar

"Wow, so your guardian now?" Kennedy said excitedly.

"Damn how'd the news spread so fast," Faith said.

"Principal Wood told us," Rona said as all the slayers gathered around them like kindergarteners ready for story time.

"Oh that's right Robin was with us," Buffy said, "when did he get out?"

"Didn't even notice," Faith muttered.

"Come on tell us the story!" Vi cried excitedly.

"Alright, ladies, Spike and Anya had a rough journey," Xander said, "why don't you go with Andrew and he'll fill you in."

"Come on, let's sit at the booth," Andrew said.

The young slayers pulled Andrew forward and ran to the booth in a mob-like conglomerate.

"They love their gossip those little ones," Xander said.

"They're like 16 X-man," Faith scoffed, "the oldest is Ken-doll and she just turned 18."

"I see some new chickies, we should get acquainted soon," Spike said.

"Later, later," Buffy said, "come on let's sit down and catch up."

"Yeah you said you had a message?" Dawn asked.

"I would also like to ask some questions about guardians," Giles said.

"Don't overwhelm them," Willow said softly. It was the first time she had spoken since they arrived at the bar.

"You alright there Red?" Faith said gently.

"Yeah I'm okay," Willow said, "just surprised. I didn't think Amy would come back ya know."

"She almost killed you twice," Faith said.

"You saved me twice," Willow responded following the group to a separate booth where they could talk.

"So how does this guardian thing work?" Giles said almost immediately.

"Giles, tone down the watcher stuff," Xander said, "let them settle in."

"It's alright," Spike said, "look mate, I'll answer all your questions after everyone goes home and we're alone."

Giles seemed satisfied by that answer. He leaned back and waited patiently.

"So you ain't no fang boy anymore?" Faith asked.

"That's right," Spike said.

"But you ain't no human either," Faith said looking confused.

"No I'm not," Spike said.

"Let's just say the demons in us were turned to something else," Anya said, "we're supposed to protect the world from evil."

"Like slayers," Dawn commented.

"Yes," Spike said. "Mostly."

"So how did you manage to escape Hell?" Xander asked, "you mentioned that earlier."

"Spike escaped first," Anya said, "stole some guard uniforms then rescued me."

"We ran for almost an entire century before two angels pulled us into Heaven and offered us this power," Spike said.

"Two angels?" Willow said, "like two people who were in Heaven or two exact replicas of Angel?"

Spike snorted in laughter, "no, two people who were in Heaven, what the Hell would Angel be doing there anyways."

"I don't know fang-boy always seems to go to those kinds of dimensions," Faith said.

"Well he wasn't," Anya said with a small smile.

"So how was Heaven?" Buffy said with a blissful smile, "isn't it beautiful?"

Spike touched her forearm gently and said, "it was really beautiful and it makes me feel even worse that you were pulled out of that paradise."

"Yeah I can't believe you were there," Anya said with a small sigh.

Willow cowered away and Faith draped her arm over her shoulders.

"Hey, Wills," Buffy said grabbing Willow's hand, "don't feel bad okay, that was a long time ago and in the long run I'm glad you brought me back because Dawn needed me."

"You're glad? Really?" Willow said meekly.

"Really Willow," Buffy said with a smile.

"See Red, no need to feel bad," Faith said.

"Yeah sorry love," Spike said softly.

Willow gave him a sad smile, "it's alright."

"Okay we need to talk about the angels that saved us," Anya said, "you guys know them."

Buffy leaned forward with interest, "we know them?"

Spike cleared his throat, "uh Buffy, it was your mother and Tara."

Willow lurched forward banging against the table and making everyone jump.

"Whoa Red, chillax!" Faith said.

"T-Tara? Tara is in Heaven?" Willow cried.

"Of course she is Willow!" Dawn cried as tears rolled down her cheeks, "Tara is a saint."

"I only met her once but I knew that girl was good," Faith said.

Willow touched her arm gently, "thanks Faith."

"When did you meet Tara?" Xander asked.

"When I was in Buffy's body," Faith said.

Buffy scoffed, "okay, let's not talk about that. S-so my mom did this?"

"Yes, her and Tara," Anya said.

"And they sent us messages for you," Spike said.

"Messages, m-messages?" Willow cried, "s-she sent a message? W-what did she say?"

Faith's chair went sliding back and she cried out, "whoa!"

"Whoa Willow, calm down," Xander said, "I'll go get you a drink."

Willow took a deep breath, "sorry, so sorry Faith."

Faith scooted her chair forward back to where she was and said, "it's cool Willow, I'm your roommate I'm used to the weirdness."

"Here Wills," Xander said, "beer normally simmers you down."

"Thanks," Willow said taking the beer and downing it.

Faith snorted, "wow, I think I'm gonna get another round."

As Faith left to the bar Buffy spoke, "Spike, please can you tell me everything!"

"Tell us everything," Dawn said, "what did our mother say?"

Spike cleared his throat and reached into his pocket.

"Miss your leather jacket?" Buffy asked.

"Surprisingly no," Spike said. He pulled out Joyce's necklace and held it up for the Summers girls to see.

Both Buffy and Dawn lurched forward with a cry and Faith nearly fell over as she was returning to the table with several beers in hand.

"Damn what the Hell happened?" Faith said sitting down in her chair and setting the beers down on the table.

"My mom's necklace!" Dawn cried.

"We gave that to her on Mother's Day when I was 13 years old," Buffy said as tears filled her eyes, "she was buried with it in Sunnydale."

"Where'd you get it Spike!" Dawn cried, "where'd you get it!"

"Whoa, calm down Dawnie," Xander said, "let Spike explain okay."

Spike put the necklace in Buffy's hand then said, "Joyce gave it to me before we came over here. She wanted to send a message to the both of you."

Buffy and Dawn nodded unable to speak as tears rolled down their cheeks in waves. Xander was hugging Dawn close and Willow was grabbing onto Buffy's hand for dear life.

"Dawn," Spike said, "your mother wants you to know that she's so very proud of you, and she wants you to be the best Watcher you can be."

Dawn let out a small sob, "oh I will be. I promise momma, I will be!"

"Buffy," Spike said turning to the blonde slayer and looking deep into her eyes, "your mother is proud of you as well, but she says that you no longer have to be the mother. Dawn has grown into a wonderful woman and now it's your turn to live your life and just be a sister."

Buffy let out a small laugh, "she said that when she was alive too. She would say I'm way too overprotective."

"She was right!" Dawn said standing up and walking around the table to hug her sister.

They embraced firmly for a while then Dawn turned to Spike, "thank you so much Spike."

"Yes thank you Spike," Buffy said. "Here Dawn, keep the necklace."

"Me? No Buffy, you should have it," Dawn said.

Buffy shook her head, "don't argue with me. The necklace is yours."

"Are you sure?" Dawn said.

"Absolutely," Buffy said.

Dawn took the necklace then hugged Buffy tightly.

"Sorry to interrupt this moment, but I haven't slept in about 4 centuries and I have a message from Tara," Anya said.

Xander snorted and Buffy shook her head with a small chuckle. Some things never change and Anya's selfishness was one of them. Though ironically her death was completely selfless.

Willow leaned forward anxiously. "Whoa, hang on," Faith said handing Willow her fourth beer, "chug that down really fast, I don't want to be accidentally sent to another dimension again."

Everyone's head whirled around, "AGAIN?"

Faith chuckled and Willow blushed. "It was when I first started the control treatment with the coven," Willow said, "I got her back without having to call the coven for help no big deal."

"Does that still happen?" Buffy said worriedly.

"No," Willow said with a small wave, "I told you that was when we first moved here, I'm in complete control."

"But you just sent Faith flying back," Giles said adjusting his glasses.

"Oh that's not a control issue," Faith said shaking her head, "you see when she accidentally zapped to another dimension she had to connect with me emotionally to get me back. So sometimes when Willow has strong emotions I feel the magical repercussions."

"Shit really?" Xander said.

"Uncanny, please do tell more about this," Giles said leaning forward, "now does this happen with witches and slayers only or can a human be connected?"

"Giles I don't know, we'll research it later," Willow said, "right now I wanna know what Tara said."

"Oh yes, I'm sorry," Giles said, "please do continue."

Anya nodded and cleared her throat, "Tara said that she still sings 'I'm Under Your Spell.'"

Willow croaked and laid her head on Faith's shoulder in tears.

"Sings?" Xander said, "oh is that when Sunnydale turned into Broadway and people sung and danced til they died?"

"Whoa what!" Faith cried.

"I'll tell you later," Willow murmured. "Anyways, Anya, thanks for telling me that."

"Oh I'm not done," Anya said.

Willow leaned forward, "t-there's uh, there's more?"

"Yes," Anya said, "she said that she left a gift for you in the first drawer of your dresser."

"A gift?" Willow said.

"Yes the orange candle you brought into her room when you chose her over Oz and you made love for the first time," Anya said.

Willow gasped, "wait, h-how did you..."

"She told me Willow," Anya said, "and she also told me that she wants you to move on."

"What?" Willow said in surprise.

"Willow, she wants you to be happy," Anya said, "and she knows you won't be happy unless you find love again, she wants you to move on and love someone else."

Willow shook her head, "no there's no way Tara wants me to be with someone else."

"Willow," Anya said, "if you don't believe me go home right now and look in that drawer. If that candle is not there hold on to her forever, but if it is, then Wills, move on."

TBC


End file.
